Dinner Entertainment
by AvedlyTres
Summary: The dinner was delicious but the after affects were none too desirable. The repercussions of Chizuru's little curry mishap promise to be anything but easy, especially when Okita is the one suggesting her "punishment."
1. The Dinner that Spells Doom

_First attempt at a Hakuouki story :)_

_Will have to see how it goes_

_**Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own Hakuouki or anything protected by copyright.**_

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Late at night at the Shinsegumi headquaters, dinner was being served.

Chizuru sat between Heisuke and Okita Souji on the floor, fidgeting about as those around her ate. She opened her mouth to once again try to say something but was cut off.

"I keep telling you Shinpachi," Heisuke continued trying to convince his stubborn friend. "I think I still have the best story. I mean, it was _six_ men I took on all by _myself_."

Somehow the conversation of the night had drifted off onto the topic of "What's the worst thing you've ever done?" and everyone gathered at dinner had something to say.

"Nah Heisuke," Shinpachi ruffled the hair of the younger boy. "There's no way you can win this. Anything you've done, I bet is kid stuff compared to some of the things I've done."

"Shinpachi," Heisuke growled, "The only bad things you do is steal food from me!"

"Now, now you two," Harada said, sensing another squabble over food brewing. "If anyone here wins this argument, it has got to be Hijikata. Why else do you suppose he has the name _Demon_ Vice-Commander of the Shinsengumi?"

"Right," Okita said with his sly grin as he glanced in Hijikata's direction. "Out of all of us, Hijikata has to be the lowest, the worst, a demon himself."

Hijikata continued to pointedly ignore him, eating the curry that had been served for dinner that night. Chizuru made a small noise of protest, but was once again stopped as Okita continued trying to egg Hijikata on. "He makes all of us seem like good guys that Hijikata. Definitely not someone that our gentle Chizuru would ever like."

This comment caused a tremor in Hijikata's calm and collected façade. His violet eyes narrowed just the slightest bit and he pressed his mouth into a thin line. He drew in a deep breath and sighed, "Yes, that correct, a person like me has done many terrible things."

"Ah geez," Okita said. "You're no fun vice commander. At least try to put up a little fight. Besides, all of us here have done bad things, I bet Chizuru is the only one that has never done anything to be frowned upon in her whole life."

"That's not true!" Chizuru blurted out. The assembled group turned to look in her direction, eyebrows raised in surprise. The slightest tinge of red colored Chizuru's cheeks, "I mean, I have done bad things before too."

There was a long silence before a loud burst of laughing erupted in the room, even Saitou cracked a smile. Chizuru's face really did flush red at this. "I'm serious!" she said.

Heisuke whacked Chizuru on the back, "You're so cute Chizuru. We all know you could never do anything bad."

"It's too unbelievable," Harada agreed.

"It's not a joke!" Chizuru insisted.

"Oh, really?" Okita grinned. "Just what have you done Chizuru that could be considered bad?"

All eyes were once again on her, "We-well," Chizuru said meekly. "This one time, while I was making curry, I accidentally added a small bit of the root from the Star Lily plant to the pot. I realized my mistake too late, and the curry was served up before I could say anything."

"And just what is this _Star Lily_ plant?" Shinpachi asked and a few of the other men nodded in agreed curiosity.

"Star Lily," it was actually Saitou who answered, "Is the plant also known as Deathcamas. Ingestion of any part of this plant causes nausea and upset stomach and, if eaten in large enough amounts, death."

"Yes, that is the one," Chizuru said. The intensity of the stares increased tenfold and Chizuru wriggled about in discomfort.

"Wow Chizuru," Heisuke patted the small girl on the head. "That is pretty bad."

"I never thought our little Chizuru would do something like that," Kondou said, the ghost of a smile on his face.

"Wait," it was Hijikata who quieted the room once more. "Chizuru, just _when_ did you accidentally add the Star Lily into the curry?"

Chizuru's face was now a bright red and she abruptly got to her feet, startling everyone and almost causing Heisuke to spill his rice. She bowed her head slightly and walked quickly over to the door, sliding it open, stepping outside and shutting it behind her.

The group in the room stared at the closed door in confusion. "Chizuru?" Harada called scratching his head.

"It was," they heard Chizuru's voice from the other side of the door, "It was this morning!" she exclaimed loudly, followed by the sound of fast retreating footsteps.

"This morning?" Harada repeated slowly. The information trickled into realization and the men all quickly looked down at the now empty bowls before them that had held the curry they had eaten for dinner.

...

"Kami, she really is bad."

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_Don't worry, Chizuru didn't kill anyone :)_


	2. Forgiveness found in Favors

_Decided to continue on. I'll see how the story goes ... hopefully it isn't a flop_

_Pyon07__ - Compliment made me grin :) and I think I might try an AU Hakuouki fic sometime ... maybe one with a school setting :D Thanks for reviewing!_

_Thank you for reading and reviewing :) to: __Illegitimi__, __XxXWolvesInTheNightXxX__, __Invisible. Words.__Houtori__ and __yarr_

_The whole -san, -chan honorific thing, I went with what was used in the manga and anime, so if they didn't use an honorific in one of those two, I didn't use it in the story._

**Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own Hakuouki (Or anything else protected by a copyright)**

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II~II~II

A week after Chizuru's little cooking "mishap" the victims of her mistake were gathered together. "Yukimura-kun," Kondou said, running a hand through hair, "I am still surprised that you made such a mistake."

"I'm sorry," Chizuru seemed close to tears.

"Yeah, do you really hate us so much?" Okita nudged Chizuru with his elbow. "I didn't think you'd ever actually try and off us."

"I'm so sorry," Chizuru bowed her head.

"Now, now," Kondou said, "I'm sure it was an honest mistake."

"That doesn't change the fact that all of us just spent the last few days flat on our back, as the poison ran its course," Shinpachi nodded his head. "I thought my stomach was trying to kill me."

"I'm sorry Nagakura-san."

"It wasn't as bad as listening to Heisuke gripe all night," Harada said. "His voice is so loud, I could hear it through the wall. All he did was beg for his mommy."

"I'm really sorry Harada-san."

Chizuru's apology was once again ignored as Heisuke jumped to his feet, yelling at Harada, "I was not stupid Sano-san! Besides, out of all of us, guess who was the one that recovered the quickest?" he proudly jabbed a thumb towards his own chest.

"Hijikata-san did of course," Shinpachi pointed in the vice commander's direction. He paid no heed to Heisuke's angry outburst of protest and continued on, "He must be part demon after all."

"Idiots," Hijikata mumbled under his breath.

"Well, Yukimura-kun," Kondou said kindly, "I'm sure you won't make this type of mistake again and I know you didn't do it intentionally, so a punishment would be uncalled for."

"Now Kondou-san," Okita said holding up his index finger. "She may not have meant to, but she still needs to take _responsibility_ for her actions."

A tiny eep escaped Chizuru's lips at these words, and she glanced wide-eyed at Kondou. Okita seemed to be enjoying himself just a bit too much.

"Souji," Kondou said with apprehension.

"No need to fret Kondou-san," Okita grinned, "It won't be anything dangerous or bad, or at least," he shrugged one shoulder, "it shouldn't be."

"It shouldn't be? Just, what do you have in mind?"

"A favor," the others in the room all turned to stare at Okita, who continued to grin like a cat. "For each of us, from Chizuru-chan. I just think that she needs to earn her forgiveness from all of those that ate her poisonous curry."

"A favor?" the group echoed.

"Yes, to earn forgiveness, Chizuru-chan will merely need to complete a simple task, for every person single person that became ill as a result of her rather careless mistake. The favor will be of our choosing of course."

"Eh?" Chizuru gaped.

Grins broke out on the faces of Harada and Shinpachi. "I think that would be a suitable punishment," Harada nodded.

"B-but-" Chizuru stammered. She could already see the gears turning in the minds of the men around her.

"Sounds good to me too," Heisuke crossed his arms, retaking his seat on the floor.

Okita looked to the Shinsengumi leader, "What do you say Kondou-san?"

"Well, I suppose," Kondou still seemed unsure. "What do you think Toshi?"

Hijikata glared at Okita for a moment, before closing his eyes in thought. Opening his eyes seconds later, he glanced at Chizuru. His expression was unreadable and Chizuru found that she was waiting with baited breath for his answer. He nodded once, "Yes, I will give my approval."

"Wah?" Chizuru said with a weak smile. "Really?"

"Yes, as long it doesn't interfere with any of the Shinsengumi's duties. This matter and work are to be kept separate."

"Then, it's agreed Chizuru," Shinpachi patted the small girl on the head. "You now officially owe us all one favor!"

Chizuru held up her hands, wriggling her slender fingers about. "How many, how many, how many favors is that?"

"Well, there are seven of us here," Harada said counting the heads.

"Add one more," Heisuke chimed in. "Yamazaki-san also had some of your deadly curry."

"Eight?" Chizuru said, clearly hoping that there were no more who had eaten her curry. "Eight favors."

Hijikata lightly cleared his throat, "Well-"

"More!" Chizuru actually sent an unintentional glare in Hijikata's direction.

The brown haired girl's glower only served to amuse Hijikata and the corners of his mouth quirked in a suppressed grin. "I took a bowl of the curry from that night to Sannan-san."

A gloom seemed to drop over Chizuru. "That's nine then Chizuru," Heisuke said in a sing-song voice. "You have your work cut out for you."

"I look forward to your hard work Chizuru-chan," Okita said.

Chizuru raised her head, clenching a fist before her. "Fine, I accept. I will not let anyone down."

II~II~II

The cheers from the men, after accepting her "punishment," still echoed in Chizuru's head as she trailed after them, her shoulders slumped. "I can do this," she said to herself. "It's the least I can do after poisoning everyone," she let the thought linger. "I still can't believe I did that," she said groaned, distraughtly ruffling her bangs.

Okita and Hijikata were the last to leave the small room, standing on the veranda as they watched Chizuru make her way aimlessly down to her room. "This will be fun right Hijikata-san?" Okita said, crossing his arms and leaning back against a post.

Hijikata's eyes remained focused on the slender shoulders of the girl as she retreated down the walk. "Just don't get carried away Souji."

"Is that a suggestion," Okita asked of Hijikata as he walked away, "Or a threat?"

Hijikata didn't even look back as he answered, "What do you think?"

Okita smirked, watching Hijikata disappear around a corner. "That Hijikata-san," he sighed, "Always threatening me."

II~II~II

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_There will still be the whole reverse harem aspect to this story, but I think the main couple will be Hijikata and Chizuru :) but I really like Okita so he will probably have a rather large role._

_I may change the rating to "T" just to be safe because there will be some very "wild" language._


	3. First Favor is to Kimono Shop?

_This chapter is a bit longer :D_

_Such wonderful encouragement from some super great readers :) Thanks bunches!_

_heka - Ack, I know, Saitou is lacking :( and I keep trying to think of ways to at least mention him but he is such a stoic fellow it's hard to write him in at times! But he will get his own chapter/section when his favor comes about :D So, hopefully that is something to look forward too! Thanks for your review :)_

_Sweety8587 - I was thinking about the humor level appropriate for this story for a long time. Usually I write Bleach, which has a whole lot more crazy humor and going-ons and decided that I should tone it down for Hakuouki. I want there to be humor, but I also wanted to try a more serious, and almost intelligent style of writing. You'll have to keep me in check :) and tell me if the humor gets too off the wall. Thanks for the review!_

_And big thanks to everyone that left a review :D_

_XxXWolvesInTheNightXxX, t42n24t2, venG, Pyon07, Illegitimi, Tessia, heart-away, Orangesz, Milisant, Kurodia_

**Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own Hakuouki, its characters or anything else under the protection of copyright.**

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For some reason, today Chizuru could just not manage her chopsticks. Her fingers were clumsy and eating rice was becoming as challenging as trying to go through a whole day without somebody threatening to kill her, namely Okita. She finally put her utensils down, deciding to give up her rather fruitless efforts at eating.

Today, was the day that marked her first "favor" as Okita had so graciously reminded her not five minutes ago, and Chizuru was busy wondering just what the Shinsengumi men had in store for her. The meal ended, with increased apprehension for Chizuru and the remnants of the lunch were cleared.

Shinpachi and Harada sat across the room from Chizuru, each casting grins of mischief in her direction. Okita leaned back against the wall, his eyes closed, as if in a light slumber as Saitou sat beside him, equally silent. Heisuke had suddenly ran from the room, a grin upon his face and the promise of quick return upon his lips, leaving the rest of the group to only peer after him in mild interest.

Hijikata conversed in a low voice with Sannan and Kondou. It appeared as if he was explaining something to Sannan and as the bespectacled man glanced in Chizuru's direction, she had a sinking feeling she knew of what they were speaking.

The door slid open quickly and Heisuke bounded back into the room. He kneeled beside Kondou, presenting him with a cup full of what appeared to be chopsticks. "Ok!" Heisuke said happily, going over to seat himself beside Saitou. "We can begin."

All voices in the room immediately quieted, Okita cracked open one eye, Hijikata's frown deepened, if only the slightest bit and Kondou cleared his throat to speak. "Well, as some of you may recall," he cleared his throat once more, "there was a slight _accident_ in the dinner a few nights ago."

"I recall," Harada said with a nod.

"As do I," Shinpachi concurred, "vividly."

"I probably won't forget it for as long as I live."

"Then I guess that won't be much longer, since I will kill you all unless you shut up and let Kondou-san continue," Hijikata said, raising a fist in threat.

The men quieted once more, silently bemused by Hijikata's remark. "So," Kondou retook the lead of the conversation. "Since there are currently no pressing matters that need be attended to, we will start Yukimura-kun's repentance."

Chizuru weakly smiled. Did they have to look so happy after Kondou said that?

"So, Kondou-san," Okita said, "Just how are we to decide who gets to choose the first punishment, oops," he feigned innocence in his slip-of-tongue. "I mean _favor_ Chizuru-chan has to carry out?"

Kondou nodded once, holding up the cup he had received from Heisuke. "There are nine chopsticks in here. Each time Yukimura-kun completes a task we will remove one. Today, all of us will pull one chopstick from the cup. Only one has a black tip, whoever receives that one will get to have the first favor."

Harada gave a grin of approval and Shinpachi loudly said, "The one with the black tip is mine!"

"There is one person missing," Saitou said, unintentionally putting a damper on the excitement.

A few heads in the room did a double take and Heisuke frowned, "Right, Yamazaki-kun isn't here. Does that mean we can't start?" he looked towards Kondou.

"Well," Kondou turned to Hijikata, "What do you think we should do Toshi?"

"Yamazaki is in the middle of mission and cannot be pulled off his spy duties on the mere whim of this game Souji has come up with, so his turn will have to wait," Hijikata said firmly.

"Finally, Hijikata-san makes a decision I can agree with," Okita said.

"If you dislike my decisions so much Souji, why don't you just be the vice-commander then?"

"Nah, too much work and I wouldn't be able to have as much fun."

"Now, now you two," Kondou shook the cup, rattling the chopsticks about, "Let's get started, ok?"

The group scooted closer to crowd around the cup held in Kondou's hand. Chizuru could only watch in apprehension, wondering just who would get their favor first and not able to even begin to imagine what they might have in store for her. She gulped, clasping her hands nervously in her lap.

"Don't worry Chizuru," Heisuke flashed her a wide smile, "It will be fun."

Fun for whom exactly? Chizuru almost voiced her doubts aloud but thought better of it.

Each had the end of chopstick between their fingers and after a moment in silent trepidation Kondou said, "Ok, go ahead."

They all pulled a chopstick from the cup, leaving one single stick behind. There was momentary confusion as each tried to hide his chopstick while looking at the others.

"Ah," Harada groaned, "Unlucky!" he held up his free-of-black chopstick.

"Me too," Heisuke frowned. "What about you Saitou-san?"

Saitou held up his chopstick, letting the absence of the black tip be his silent answer.

"Sannan-kun and I also drew blanks," Kondou said, half in disappointment and half in relief. It appeared that he really didn't want to be the first one to have to penalize Chizuru.

Chizuru found herself almost glancing hopefully in Hijikata's direction. Her inquisitive gaze caught his eye, and shook his head. "Mine also has no black tip," he said aloud.

All heads swiveled in Okita's direction. He remained in his relaxed position, leaning against the wall, his eyes closed as he held up his chopstick. His hand was fisted around the tip and he smiled, unclenching his fingers and letting the wooden stick fall to the floor.

Everyone leaned down, focusing on the very much blank point of the chopstick. So, Okita didn't have the chopstick with the black end either.

"What are the odds?" Kondou sighed, leaning back into his kneeling position. He lifted the cup, pulling the last stick up to reveal the fabled black-tipped chopstick.

"Ah, what the hell?"

"Redo, redo!"

"What are we going to do now?"

"Fight to the death!"

"Then I will win!"

The rants continued until Sannan held up a hand, "Everyone put your chopsticks back into the cup and we will redraw. Except, this time, we will remove a blank one to ensure that someone gets the one with the black tip."

Although a much milder option than the first proposed "fight to the death," the group gave a grumble of concurrence and threw the chopsticks back in the cup. Sannan drew out a blank one, placing it on the floor beside him.

Chizuru felt her apprehension build once more as the drawing began anew. A few more uneasy moments later and Shinpachi leapt to is feet frantically waving his chopstick about in the air. "Victory!"

There it was, clasped in his hand, the chopstick with one black end. "Stupid Shinpat-san, old geezer," Heisuke muttered, crossing his arms.

Heisuke looked saddened.

Harada looked let down.

Okita looked bored.

Sannan and Saitou seemed indifferent.

Kondou looked amused.

And Hijikata looked annoyed, like he was going to cut off Shinpachi's arm unless he stopped waving the stupid chopstick around.

Chizuru watched Hijikata in silent interest, wondering just when he was going to snap. "So, Chizuru," said Shinpachi suddenly appearing by her side. "Are you ready?"

"Uh, for what exactly?" Chizuru nervously asked.

"Your favor," Shinpachi was already helping her to her feet. "I already have something in mind."

"Something," Chizuru looked around for help, "in mind?"

III~III~III

To say that the atmosphere of the room was a tense would be putting it mildly. The small group of Shinsengumi men sat upon the floor, each trying to appear relaxed and un-vexed.

Shinpachi, sitting cross-legged beside Saitou, shook his leg in growing irritation, "What is taking her so long?" he grumbled. "And why did all of you have to come along? This is my favor day."

"Don't be selfish Shinpat-san," Heisuke said. "We want to have fun with Chizuru too."

"I bet Hijikata-san came just because he wanted to see Chizuru-chan dressed in a Kimono," Okita voice was full of underlying suggestions.

"Nakagura," Hijikata chose to ignore Okita's comment. "Your favor was to have Chizuru help you pick out a kimono for your younger sister but-"

Voicing his concern, whatever it was, came to a halt as the sliding door opened and the shopkeeper stepped in. The older woman bowed her head and scooted aside, a smaller figure stepping into the room behind her.

Chizuru, clad in a red colored kimono, embroidered with rich designs of golds, silvers and greens, stood in the center of the room. Her brown hair had been done up in a neat bun and the lightest red colored her cheeks. Her head was bowed and her eyes were downcast. Chizuru's courage was already at its limits just stepping into the room, dressed the way she was and she didn't think she could quite yet handle making direct eye contact with anyone yet.

"Wow Yukimura-kun," Kondou was the first to speak. "You look very nice."

"More than just nice Kondou-san," Harada said. "She looks like a princess."

Chizuru clapped her hands to her face, shaking her head. She hastily said, "Uh, Nakagura-san do you think your sister would like this kimono?"

"Huh, my sister?" Shinpachi seemed to shake himself from a slight stupor of sorts. "Oh, right, my sister. Well, no. I don't think that red is quite her color. You should go and try on another one."

"Yeah, another," Heisuke agreed.

"Heh? Really?" Chizuru tried to make a feeble protest. "Are you sure this is the best way for you to choose a kimono for your sister, Nakagura-san?"

"Yes, yes," Shinpachi made a motion to the shopkeeper. "I can't just choose any old kimono for my precious sister. I have to see it first."

The shopkeeper bowed her head, guiding a still blushing Chizuru from the room. The silence overtook the room once more. Shinpachi was still grinning, most likely thinking of Chizuru and his clever favor.

The kimono assessments continued on, and Chizuru's nerve grew with each one. When she was finally able to look up, as she stood before the men, she looked to Hijikata, immediately looking down once more. His gaze seemed to rest the most heavily upon her.

They were bowed from the shop, Shinpachi carefully carrying a box with one arm. He cheerfully patted Chizuru on her head, "Thank you Chizuru, you're a good girl."

"I hope you are not mad at me still for the curry thing," Chizuru said.

"Oh right," it appeared he had forgotten the original reason for Chizuru's punishment. He grinned, "I'm not mad at all, I never really was. And today, we had fun right?"

Chizuru blinked, then smiled, answering with a simple, "Yes."

III~III~III

That night Chizuru slowly trod to her room. "That is one down," she said softly to herself. She slid open the door to her room, pausing in the doorway to stare in curiosity at the box in the middle of her floor. It looked very similar to the one Shinpachi had received from the kimono shop.

She knelt down beside it, carefully opening the lid to peer inside. The little light left of the day shone upon the silky material of the red colored kimono. "What is this doing here?" Chizuru placed a hand upon the cloth.

"Do you like it?"

Chizuru jumped in surprise, turning around quickly. Hijikata stood in her doorway, a strange look upon his face. "That kimono is for you," Hijikata said. "The men all pitched in and decided to buy it. Since you are a girl, we thought you might like to dress like one every now and then."

There was no flourish in his words, no extravagant presentation, but underneath his straight-forward speech, seemed a hope that Chizuru would indeed like her gift. Chizuru looked at the magnificent kimono in disbelief once more. "Thank you but this is too much. I could never accept-"

"It is yours now. Do with it as you will," Hijikata said, turning on heel. It seemed that he didn't want to argue the matter with her.

Chizuru jumped to her feet, "But wait," she called after Hijikata. "What about Nakagura-san's sister?"

"His sister," Hijikata paused, turning to glance at her. "Nakagura doesn't have a sister."

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_Yay, I finally got the chapter a bit longer :) I usually write chapters that are like 8,000 words long so to be writing such short chapters feels nice!_

_Hope you liked!_


	4. The Second Service

_The feedback for this story is **wonderful** and I'm glad that you are all so **wonderful**!_

_Hakuouki ended :( but there's going to be a **second** season :) does anyone know **when** that might be popping up?_

_Sweety8587 - It's like waxing? Lol :D I was worried about making Hijikata too sweet. Sometimes I write stuff, reread it then have to delete it because there is probably no way in heck the Hijikata of Hakuouki would ever say it, after all, he told Chizuru to shut up once. Your review was great and cheering :) thanks!_

_TNWanderer - Thanks much for your wonderful review :) I will probably have Hijikata's part last :( because he's going to be the other half of the main pairing :) but I'll try to include some more of him in the next chapters :) Saito is hard to write but he's also one of my favorites too. I keep trying to think of ways to include him without making him seem to OOC but he's one tough nut to crack._

_Fateful Melody - Thank you for reviewing :D Okita's one of my favorites too :) actually I'm kinda sitting the fence between him and Saito ..._

_Ilinox - I totally hear you on the depressing side of the shinsengumi. I read the actual history of some of these guys and it made me very glad that Hakuouki Jurenka has provided us with a sugar coated version of their lives, no matter how far from reality it may be. I was thinking of slipping Kazama in the story somehow ... I'm just waiting for it to come to me (if it ever does) Thanks for your review :D_

_O.o naruto - Thanks for you review :) and I'm thinking about taking a bold first step and writing a Naruto fanfic :O have any advice for me?_

_venG, XxXWolvesInTheNightXxX, t42n24t2, Orangesz, Milisant, Illegitimi, ?, Shallindra, sandra, MiChiKo165, Tessia, Shinitzue, winn-chan, viviennerosethorn, Daisuke-fujisaki, Ninjas Wings_

_This chapter mentions certain japanese cuisine and I really wasn't one hundred percent certain on just what they would have in edo, during the samurai era so I kept it simple and didn't elaborate more than what was needed, sorry _

_**Disclaimer**: I do not in anyway own Hakuouki Jurenka or anything else under copyright protection._

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IV~IV~IV

"So, Yukimura-kun, one favor is finished," Sannan said with a smile, sitting down next to Chizuru on the floor. The men were once again assembled in the room, lazing about as they waited for Kondou to return. "Are you nervous?" Sannan asked, noting the clenched position of Chizuru's hands atop her lap.

Chizuru shook her head, "No, I'm fine," she said, despite knowing that was a lie. She was anything but fine. She did have one favor out of the way, after the rather "interesting" events of yesterday, but Shinpachi's favor ended up benefitting her more than him. She could not be so certain that the results of today would be as kindly when the other favors came about.

"Sorry for the wait," Kondou returned, sliding the door shut quietly behind him. He sat down, crossing his legs. "Well, now that business has been taken care of first, shall we proceed onto Yukimura-kun's next favor?"

He didn't even need an answer. The cup full of chopsticks appeared once more, Okita holding it aloft above his head. Chizuru gulped, disliking that cup more and more each time she saw it.

Shinpachi nudged her lightly with his elbow, "Don't worry Chizuru, you have only eight left, plus Yamazaki isn't here today, so there's only seven to worry about for now."

Yamazaki's mission was still ongoing but this didn't dissuade the others in anyway. His turn was merely pushed off to another day. Chizuru was beginning to feel that Yamazaki probably _didn't even know_ about this whole favor thing.

Looks of amusement were exchanged as the chopsticks were drawn and a couple faces turned to ones of disappointment. "So, who is the lucky man today?" Shinpachi asked, glancing about.

Rather apologetically Kondou raised a hand, holding the black tipped chopstick up, for the others to see. "Sorry, Yukimura-kun," he said to Chizuru.

Hoping the relief wasn't evident on her face, Chizuru let out the breath she had been holding. Kondou seemed, out of the rest of the group, like he would have one of the easier favors. "You don't have to apologize Kondou-san," she said hurriedly.

Before she could ask the question that was currently burning on her tongue, Heisuke beat her to it. "Kondou-san, what are you going to have Chizuru do for you?"

"About that," the Shinsengumi leader scratched the back of his head, "I haven't really given the matter much thought …" the end of his sentence trailed away. Many of the men were watching him with keen attention, waiting for him to make up his mind. "Well, I guess we could do something around the headquarters. Do you know of anything that needs to be done Toshi?"

Hijikata shook his head, "Nothing for Chizuru," his purple eyes glanced her way.

"Well," Kondou was still mulling over the matter at hand. Giving it a quiet while of thought, he finally said, "How about … we have a feast and Yukimura-kun can help prepare it?"

After a short moment, Sannan replied first with, "That sounds very pleasant." A few of the other men nodded their heads in agreement.

"With saké," Heisuke grinned, "Lots of it."

"Sorry, Heisuke," Harada slapped his comrade on the back, "All that saké will be for the older men."

"Stupid Sano-san, you just want it all for yourself."

Their bickering continued until Okita's comment caught their attention. "Kondou-san," Okita said. "Is it really such a good idea to have Yukimura-kun cook for us, when," he gave her an impish like grin, "the whole reason we are doing this punishment in the first place is because she _cooked_ a bad curry?"

There was a silent 'oh' that seemed to sweep the room.

Chizuru could see the men trying to figure out whether it was safe or not to let her cook for them again. "Uh," she ventured to say as the silent deliberation continued, "I won't mistake like that again, I promise. So if you want me to cook for you Kondou-san, I will try my best."

Kondou laughed, "I am sure everything will be … safe this time. I think I will have Chizuru help to cook us a large meal but perhaps, we should wait till tomorrow. The day is almost over and these things take time to prepare. What do you say Toshi?"

"Yes, we leave it till tomorrow night," Hijikata said in a firm tone, indicating that the matter was not one for debate.

"There you have it Yukimura-kun," Kondou said. "I would like you to make us a delicious feast for dinner tomorrow night."

IV~IV~IV

Chizuru knew that many of the men rose early to practice their sword work, meditate or clean their weapons but it still surprised her to see so many people milling about when she awoke.

She had risen before dawn, in order to go and prepare the meal for dinner that night and had run into Heisuke along the way and met Harada just outside the kitchen. Both insisted it was _coincidence,_ then decided to tag along and help her with her preparations.

"If you have other things you need to do, I assure you I will be fine by myself," Chizuru said stepping into the kitchen.

"Well, we don't have patrol today and besides why is it ok for the vice-commander to help you but not us," Heisuke said.

"The vice-commander?" Chizuru repeated to make certain she had heard correctly. She turned about, facing the interior of the kitchen. Sure enough, there was Hijikata, already stirring a large pot of something above the fire. "Hi-Hijikata-san? And Saito-san too?"

Yes, not only was Hijikata there, but Saitou was also present, silently slicing an onion into thin, very precise pieces. Neither turned around and Chizuru had a feeling that they both had already known she was on her way, even before she walked into the kitchen.

"Chizuru do you know what you want to make for dinner?" Hijikata asked, keeping his eyes on his task.

Chizuru had been giving the dinner a lot of thought, but she hadn't been expecting Hijikata to be present when she had to cook. All her thoughts just seemed to jump ship whenever he was around, leaving her full attention to gaze in wonder at him.

"We-well," Chizuru began to reform her train of thought, "maybe soup, um miso soup and tsukemono."

"Yes, that sounds fine," he continued with his stirring. "Anything else?"

"Oh, and fried fish."

"Ok."

"And ... some fruit of some kind."

"I believe we have some sort of peaches in storage."

"And steamed vegetables," Chizuru paused. She wasn't really sure what else she was missing.

"What about rice?" Okita suggested, appearing behind Chizuru. He leaned into the kitchen, "Hello there Chizuru-chan, planning out our menu for tonight?"

"Okita-san," Chizuru stepped out of the way so Okita could make his way into the kitchen. "You too? Why are you here? I mean," she realized her question had been a bit rude, "I thought you all would be busy with something."

Okita was already rolling up his sleeves. "I wanted to make sure you didn't try to kill us again."

Chizuru gave a weak chuckle. "I'm sorry Okita-san."

"Just ignore him Chizuru," Heisuke grinned. "Souji just likes to poke fun at you. Now, Chizuru what can I help with?"

"Well," Chizuru really didn't even know where to start. It looked like Hijikata was already working on some kind of soup and Okita had started to chop vegetables at a startling pace. "I feel bad receiving your help with my punishment."

"Don't worry Chizuru," Harada was pushing Heisuke back out the door, "Making a large meal by yourself is no easy task. Heisuke will go and get the peaches for us and I will start cleaning the fish."

"But," Chizuru started to say, but everybody was already absorbed in their own tasks. It was her punishment, but it seemed like she wouldn't be doing much. She spotted a large bowl, taking it carefully into her hands. At the very least, she could prepare the rice.

Chizuru headed out towards the water pump, the bowl of dry rice in her hands. "Chizuru, what are you up to?"

"Oh, Nakagura-san," Chizuru said, spotting the second division captain. "I'm just going to go and wash the rice for tonight's dinner."

"Here," he took the bowl from her hands. "I'll take care of that."

"But," she called after him, but he was already swiftly striding away, waving a hand cheerfully at her over his shoulder.

"It's the least I can do," he called, "I'm sure you have lots of other preparations to finish for tonight's meal."

"Heh, not quite."

IV~IV~IV

Seated for dinner that night, Chizuru stared at the wonderful meal before her. The food not only was pleasing to her sight but also to her sense of smell. The aroma of it all made her mouth water and she realized that she hadn't eaten much all day.

The only unpleasant aura to the meal was the nagging sense that she hadn't really prepared any of it, as per Kondou's wish. Whenever she had started on one task, someone else would come and take over, telling her, "_A large meal is too much for you to prepare all by yourself_," or "_I will take care of this so you can work on more important things_," and even, "_let me do this or I will kill you_."

"Yukimura-kun," Kondou said, from his sitting position at the front of the room, "This looks wonderful, thank you."

"B-but," Chizuru began but her words were drowned out by the "thank yous" that came from all about the room.

"Yukimura."

It was Saitou, he sat next to her, his usual look of apathy in place. "If you have something to say to Kondou-san, do not be afraid to say it. There is no reason to hinder your words," he said.

After a moment of hesitation, she nodded, "Right." She really didn't think she could take the guilt anymore, "Actually, Kondou-san, I have a confession to make!"

Chizuru's sudden exclamation granted her everyone's full attention. "Go ahead Yukimura-kun," Kondou said, his expression still one of mild surprise.

Yukimura fidgeted with her hands, "It is about the meal-"

"Ah, she did poison us all again."

"She probably didn't mean to."

"At least she told us before we ate anything."

"I'm beginning to think that this is a hobby of Chizuru-chan's."

"Wait," Chizuru's words were drowned out as some of the men began to take bets on who would recover first this time. Chizuru found herself glancing in Hijikata's direction, looking for help.

The vice-commander caught her eye. He cleared his throat and loudly barked, "Quiet!"

"Hijikata-san, you're so mean," Okita said and a few of the others concurred but all quieted, waiting for Hijikata to speak again. Hijikata glanced about the room, before looking to Chizuru and giving her the smallest of nods.

"Kondou-san," Chizuru said. "I promise I didn't poison this meal. The truth is, I really didn't do any of the preparations or cooking," her voice was shaking and she bowed her head, "I'm sorry, I didn't help with this meal at all."

She couldn't raise her head, and kept her gaze down, upon the wooden pattern of the floor. The laughter Chizuru heard soon after her confession surprised her. She looked up to see Kondou chuckling and many of the other men smiling as well.

"Yukimura-kun," Kondou said, "Is this what has been troubling you all night?"

Not quite sure what to think, Chizuru nodded. "Yukimura-kun," Kondou looked to be suppressing a smile, "What makes you think you didn't help prepare this meal?"

"Because," Chizuru glanced about the room. Everyone's gaze, from Sannan's polite face of curiosity, to Saito's unreadable face of silence was upon her. "Because I really didn't contribute anything to the meal. Everyone else did the cooking. I'm very sorry."

"Yukimura-kun, why do you think we had this meal?"

"Why?" Chizuru repeated, her head tilting the slightest bit sideways in contemplation. "Well, because it was my punishment."

"And do you think we would have planned and made this wonderful meal if it hadn't been for you?"

That was a question she really didn't know the answer to. "I suppose it would be less likely …"

"Yukimura-kun," it was Sannan who began to speak, "The correct answer is no. We would probably not have made this meal ourselves or would've gone out. It is most likely, we would not have even planned to have such a nice dinner as this."

"So," Kondou said, "In a way, you did help with preparing this meal." He gave her one of his genuine smiles, "You made this all possible by unintentionally providing us with an opportunity to prepare and enjoy this meal that is now before us. So, thank you, Yukimura-kun."

If she was feeling embarrassed before, she leagues beyond embarrassed now. Chizuru really didn't think she deserved that much credit, after all the reason she had made this dinner possible in the first place was because she had poisoned everyone …

She made to protest but the expressions of the other men, indicated that they also agreed with Kondou and Sannan's words. "Thank you for the meal," rang out from about the room and the meal that she had been so worried over began.

Something was pressed into her hands and she glanced down. Saito had ever so inconspicuously placed the utensils into her right hand and had quickly returned to his own meal, acting as if nothing had occurred.

He caught her looking at him and said quietly, so only she heard him, "If the others had not been grateful for your presence here, they would not have helped out as they did." Saito returned to his own food, murmuring to Chizuru, "Enjoy your meal."

Chizuru would later admit that the dinner that night was especially delicious.

IV~IV~IV

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_Tsukemono - Japanese pickles, a snack or side dish usually served with rice_

_I will probably end up combining Sannan's favor with someone else's favor in one chapter .. but I will just have to adopt a wait and see approach to this story._

_Thanks for reading :)_


	5. What Sannan Said, Heisuke's Clever Con

_Sorry for the long time between updates, but I had to keep my writing love for my Bleach stories :)_

_This chapter is a bit of HeisukeXChizuru but I will get back to Hijikata and Chizuru, I promise!_

_Ilinox - I wish I had the game! But sadly no, all the stuff I use to write this fanfic is from the anime, manga and readings I have done about the Shinsengumi. I'm so glad you think their personalities are good, I get worried writing about certain characters, especially Saitou! Thanks for your review :) and I love Hijikata's purple eyes!_

_Starian NightZz - Not till fall hmm? Well it is almost upon us! I'm excited for the second season, how about you :) thanks for reviewing._

_Illegitimi - Man o man, yea I read up a little on the real Shinsengumi, and must say that the anime is a far cry from reality, but I am hoping to peg the characters as they are portrayed in Hakuoki Jurenka instead of their real life personas. I don't think it would be much fun to write about the sepukku-loving Hijikata and the alcoholic Saitou. But I will keep your advice in mind :) thanks for the insight and your review._

_MiChiKo65 - I like the Kondou and Okita connection too :) and am soooo jealous of Chizuru! Loved your review, thanks for reading!_

_harari24 - Sometime in October? That is so around my birthday :) thanks for the info and the review!_

_O.o naruto - I totally have an idea for a Naruto and Hinata story! Do you like this pairing? Maybe I can bounce ideas off you ... please? And thanks for reviewing :D_

___Aozugiru Sora - loved that you stuck it out through all the chapters! Chapter 1 has a good "hook" then? Thanks for the reviews :)_

_Nikooru-sama - OMG it's like you've been reading my mind! There is so going to be some drinking going down later and some crazy Chizuru drunkeness! Great minds thinks alike man :) Thanks for reviewing!_

_Akatsuki-Fan389 - Can't wait for the second season! It seems so close but so far away! Thanks for review :)_

_A big thank you to:_

_Sweety8587, Raine Haruto, t42n24t2, XxXWolvesInTheNightXxX, Yume Mikage, winn-chan, sileny, Su Zuna Ame, RedxAlert, MangaFreak3, Kokochii, Litschi, Rinhail_

_You have no idea how much I appreciate your reviews!_

**Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own Hakuouki or anything else under the protection of copyright.**

* * *

V~V~V

With a loud yelp crash and resulting crash, Chizuru made her way, rather gracelessly, down the short flight of stairs.

"Chizuru," Heisuke from seemingly out of nowhere, was by her side in minutes, checking for any bruises or bleeding. "Are you ok?"

"Sorry," Chizuru said, a bit disoriented by her fall. She looked about, "Oh, no, I dropped all Sannan-san's stuff." She hastily began to sweep the mess of books and loose-leaf papers into a stack, careful to brush each off.

"Chizuru," Heisuke bent down, helping her to gather up the last of the materials. "Maybe you should leave the rest of this to us," he grabbed the stack, adding it to his own collection of books he had set down earlier. "Be more careful," he said in his usual cheery manner, "I'll take care of these for you, so how about you take a little break?"

And he was off, striding across the inner courtyard before Chizuru could get a word in edgewise. "But," Chizuru raised one hand feebly, this situation seemed to be happening to her a lot recently. "I'm supposed to be helping Sannan-san move."

Chizuru was currently in the middle of her third task, this one being for Sannan. The requirement of this particular task, entailed moving the piles of paperwork, books and whatever else was lying around, to Sannan's new room, all the way on the other side of the Shinsengumi headquarters.

The sound of footsteps behind Chizuru alerted her to the arrival of two of the other members of the Shinsengumi. "Remind me why we are doing this again?" Shinpachi was careful on his descent down the stairs that had taken Chizuru out moments earlier.

Harada followed after him, peeking over his large stack of books, "Since Souji and Saitou are on patrol and Hijikata-san is out with Kondou-san today, there's no one else here to help Chizuru-chan."

"Speaking of Chizuru-chan," Shinpachi grinned, "looks like we are the ones doing all the work here. Chizuru is just sitting around."

"Ah no, you see," Chizuru hesitated; she didn't exactly feel like sharing that she had fallen down the stairs. "I was just," she grabbed one of the notebooks that Heisuke had missed earlier. "Uh, I was just looking through one of Sannan-san's books."

It was a quick movement, so fast Chizuru had just about missed what happened. Almost as soon as she had picked up the notebook, Harada had reached out and snatched the book right from her hands.

"Uh Chizuru-chan," he said as he placed the book on top his pile. "Perhaps you shouldn't be going through Sannan-san's stuff."

The question of 'why' lingered on her tongue but she swallowed the word, nodding in silence. "Sorry Chizuru-chan," Shinpachi said, "There are some things that are better to not know, especially within the Shinsengumi."

Chizuru watched their retreating backs, finally getting to her feet. "Some things that are better not to know?"

"Yukimura-kun," Sannan appeared, a calm smile upon his face. "They don't mean to scare you," he said, referring to Shinpachi and Harada. "They just don't want you to get a look into their darker sides."

"Darker sides?"

"Yes," Sannan leaned against the wall, "The Shinsengumi is not as good-willed as some may believe. We follow our orders, and kill as we need. We are the shogun's watchdogs, and take lives regardless of age or family. There is blood on our hands."

His expression was that of melancholy as he gazed at the pale skin of his palms, as if imagining a crimson color upon them. Looking up, he fixed her with small smile, "But lately, a ray of light has been shone into the halls of the Shinsengumi. So, perhaps we are not as lost in darkness as we thought."

V~V~V

"What?" echoed throughout the halls of the Shinsengumi headquarters.

Two days since Sannan had moved into his new room and Chizuru had completed her third task, some of the Shinsengumi were gathered for the start of the fourth favor.

Heisuke's turn was up and his suggestion for Chizuru's favor had stirred up laughter from the other men.

"Heh, I guess Heisuke really is still a kid," Shinpachi ruffled the hair of the younger boy. "But really, for your favor you want to have a scavenger hunt?"

Laughter broke out once more. Kondou cleared his throat, raising a hand to silence the others. "Heisuke for this, uh favor of yours, you want to have a scavenger hunt, is that correct?"

Heisuke, who was pointedly ignoring Shinpachi, nodded, "Yes, I have it all planned out, it is going to be great."

Kondou looked to his dark-haired vice captain, "Very well Heisuke," Hijikata said, taking over for Kondou, "I think that sounds reasonable, as long as you are on time tomorrow for your patrol."

"Great," Heisuke grinned, turning to look at Chizuru, "Are you ready to go Chizuru?"

"R-right now? Is everything ready?" Chizuru was a bit startled as Heisuke grabbed her hand and began to pull her along after him. "You don't need to set anything up?"

"No," Heisuke pulled the rolled tube of paper from his belt, "I have everything we need here," he unrolled the paper, showing Chizuru the handwritten list of items to find upon it, "let's go."

"Not so fast."

"What now?" Heisuke turned about, pulling Chizuru to a stop beside him.

"We want to play too," Harada said, Shinpachi and Okita in his wake.

"No," Heisuke didn't even have to think about his answer. He whipped about and before Chizuru realized it, they were on their way once more.

"Come on Heisuke," Okita had caught up to them. He draped an arm leisurely over Heisuke's shoulders. "We want to have a little fun too. It will be more entertaining with a larger number of people. It could be like a competition. We even got Saitou to come with us so we have enough people to evenly pair up."

And amazingly Saitou really was there, trailing along behind the rest of the group, his arms crossed and a look of exasperation on his face. "We will let _you_ be partners with _Chizuru-chan_," Shinpachi said, "Although if you don't want to-"

"Fine," Heisuke said, in a voice of vexation, "Fine, you can participate in the treasure hunt, but Chizuru is my partner."

There were smirks of victory and Shinpachi looked to Harada, "Partners?"

"Like you even need to ask."

"I guess that leaves me with Saitou then," Okita released Heisuke. Saitou sighed in an acceptance of sorts, that yes, he was going to end up wasting his whole afternoon following Okita around.

"Everyone has partners then?" Heisuke asked, irritation still clear in his voice. "The rules are, you need to find everything on the list. Once you do, you and your partner have to make it back to the gates of the Shinsengumi headquarters. The first team back is the winner."

"Sounds easy enough," Okita grinned.

"Victory is ours then," Shinpachi and Harada already looked to be doing some planning of sorts.

"But Heisuke-kun," Chizuru ventured to say, "We only have one list."

Everyone's attention was directed to the single piece of paper in Heisuke's hand. "Uh," Heisuke shrugged, ready to offer a simple answer to the dilemma. "Guess you guys can't take part in the scavenger hunt then."

"Not so fast," Harada grabbed the paper, "Here, we just tear it up into three parts," he gave Heisuke a look that clearly said 'nice try.' Ripping the paper evenly into three, he held out the sections, "Each of us gets part of the list."

"That works," Okita grinned, taking his piece of the paper.

"Fine," Heisuke said in a sulky voice, taking a part of the list.

"Good, everyone ready?"

V~V~V

Chizuru pattered along behind Heisuke. He didn't even look at the paper in his hand, but kept his eyes ahead, focusing on some destination unbeknownst to her. They had been walking for a while, on a steady uphill climb, on a of the path that led from the town.

The day was ending and dusk was deepening the colors of the sky. "Heisuke-kun?" Chizuru finally thought it best that she ask. "Uh, where are we going?"

"Don't worry Chizuru," Heisuke looked over his shoulder, grinning at her. "We are almost there."

The path finally evened out, and widened into a flat piece of land, edged with an abrupt cliff. Heisuke walked to brink of the precipice, overlooking the land below. Turning about, he smiled and offered a hand to Chizuru, "You have to come and see this."

Chizuru, still wondering what he was up to, nodded in compliance and went carefully to stand by his side. "Heisuke?"

"Isn't the view great?" Heisuke beamed.

The ledge they stood upon overlooked the forest below, lush and green with the foliage of spring. A river ran through the trees and off far in the distance, the soft lull of a range of hills could be seen. Chizuru's eyes attempted to take in everything, the colors, the textures, all movements below until she glanced sideways, to look at the bemused boy beside her.

"So, what do you think?" Heisuke asked.

"It's beautiful," Chizuru smiled. "Do you come up here often?"

"Only when I have time between training and patrol," Heisuke sat down on the ground, crossing his legs. "And when we are not off, carrying out orders."

Chizuru glanced at the piece of paper, still clutched in Heisuke's hand. "But, what about the scavenger hunt?"

To her surprise, Heisuke began to chuckle and offered the piece of paper to her. "That was just to get the others to leave us alone. I had a feeling that whatever I had decided to do, they would want to tag along, so I made something up to get them to leave us be."

Chizuru could almost imagine the faces of anger, "Then, my favor ..."

"Your real favor, is to sit up here and watch the sunset with me," Heisuke patted the ground beside him.

"R-really?"

"Yep!"

Sitting down slowly, Chizuru felt rather bashful all of a sudden, even though Heisuke appeared unperturbed by anything he had just said. "But, then," Chizuru began, in an attempt to chase away her butterflies she was feeling, "what does this list say?"

She unfolded the paper, reading the hand-written scrawl in the dimming light of day. Blinking, Chizuru re-read the first item again, realizing that she had indeed, read it correctly. "Heisuke-kun," she showed him the list, "Is this right? It says you need to get, uh, from Yamazaki-san, a … strand of hair."

Heisuke snickered, "Pretty good right Chizuru? Guess they should have read the list first, before we started but that should keep them busy for a while. The rest of the stuff on the list is like that, I think I even put the Yuki-onna on that list somewhere too. I wonder who got that one."

"Heisuke-kun, does this say Sannan-san's glasses?"

"Yep."

"And an eyelash from Hijikata-san?"

"Better than what you have to ask Saitou-san for."

"Um, what do you need from Saitou-san?"

"You don't want to know."

* * *

_Ok, this chapter did seem a bit Chizuru x Heisuke centric, but the main pairing is supposed to be Chizuru and Hijikata, sorry, I just have a soft spot for the kid (guilty as charged)._

_Questions, comments, wants, needs, anything you feel like shaaaring?_

_Thanks for reading :D_


	6. An Eerie Expedition

_Updaaaated :) Sorry about the gap between chapter updates :( but I got good grades this term ... :)_

_Happy Holidays :) although this chapter would've been better to have around Halloween ... but oh well, I don't want to wait till next Halloween to update, so I'll just post it now :)_

_* Caution, this one is spooky! Don't read in the dark if you're a scaredy cat like me (I wrote it in the dark, and couldn't sleep afterwards cause I was thinking of scary movies)_

_Tiny Cherie - Ooooh I have a liking for Yamazaki too, I was sad that he died at the end of the first season :( it was a noble way to go, but still sad :( Thanks for reviewing :)_

_harari24 - I have so been trying to watch the second season, but haven't had enough time :( or a dependable internet connection. BUT from what I've seen, it's is soooooo GOOD :) what do you think of the second season so far? Thanks for reviewing :D_

_Thanks to everyone that left a review, they are like food for me :) lol:_

_MiChiKo165, i. don'tMISS, the notebook, Nikooru-sama, Shikyoku No Neko, Aosugiru Sora, knightinred, Akatsuki no Oashisu, O.o naruto, Raine Haruto, Su Zuna Ame, Cafe-Publications, Rinhail, Hanamoritsuki, Rhythm15, abiecula, xTsubasa-no-Utau, sakR9, redfox-akatsuki, ZkKtTysoul, Hesunohana, Kuro Neko, Yulie Fong, WinglessDreams, louisielove, Yester, Post It Lover, JingleBells18, Alpha, tuNGaw-GiRL aaaand barbieater :D_

**Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own anything, or even try to suggest that I can lay claim to anything under the protection of copyright.**

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VI~VI~VI

Chizuru followed along at a slow gait behind Saitou and Okita. Behind her she could hear Shinpachi and Heisuke arguing in hushed voices. "I don't want to ask him, you do it Shinpat-san, you old geezer."

"Why you-"

"Besides, you're the one that keeps talking about it."

"You're the brat that brought it up in the first place," Shinpachi said loudly, shaking a couple of birds from the trees nearby. Saitou continued walking up the narrow, winding path and Okita fell back to tread beside Heisuke, a grin on his face.

"Go on Chizuru-chan," Okita pushed her ahead of him, "go walk with Saitou-san, this is his favor after all."

Hearing this, Shinpachi finally blurted out loudly, "Saitou, have you ever spent time with a girl before?"

The group of five stopped in the middle of the path, Saitou turned his head slightly to gaze at Shinpachi and Chizuru glanced back and forth between the two of them. "Uh, what I mean to say …" Shinpachi scratched his head. "Well, uh, Saitou, have you ever taken a girl out before?"

Chizuru swore she could almost feel the others holding their breath, waiting for the quiet samurai's answer. "No," Saitou's face was as apathetic and unreadable as always, "Why?"

"Er, well," Shinpachi glanced at Heisuke, looking for some kind of back up.

"Saitou-san," Heisuke talked slowly, as if he were about to break some sort of news to Saitou. "Well, most men, when they spend time with women, they don't normally take them on … missions."

Still, no reaction of any sort was drawn from Saitou, who calmly replied, "And?"

"Well," it was Shinpachi's turn again. "This is some special time you get to have with Chizuru, wouldn't you rather do something else besides go on a mission?"

"I received the vice-commander's permission to bring Chizuru along."

Heisuke slapped a hand to his forehead, and Shinpachi let out a loud sigh. Saitou continued on walking, Chizuru deciding to follow shortly after. Okita appeared to be biting back his laughter, "He just doesn't get it," he chuckled to Heisuke and Shinpachi.

"I know Saitou said he didn't go out much, but still, you'd think he would at least do something that was a bit more fun than going on a mission."

"I am surprised that Hijikata-san gave him permission to bring Chizuru-chan along," Okita smiled to Chizuru, who upon hearing her name, had glanced his way.

"I mean," Shinpachi continued, "the least he could of done was to go on a walk, he does at least know how to do that right?"

Chizuru could feel her cheeks warming, and prayed that Saitou could not hear what the others were saying, or at least he didn't care about what they were saying. She could care less what Saitou asked of her as his favor, she was spending time with him and that was what the important thing was.

Out of the multitudes of samurai that made up the forces of the Shinsengumi, Saitou, along with Hijikata, were what Chizuru considered mysteries. Saitou was silent, with a stern aura and Chizuru knew, from personal experience, that you did not want to be on the opposing side of his blade.

Chizuru glanced up at the back of the swordsman as he continued walking. He gave off an aura of someone cold and distant, but he was also a very contemplative person, who, Chizuru would catch on occasion, staring aimlessly into the pond in the courtyard, or up at the pink petals of the cherry blossoms. She had always wondered, but never dared to ask about what he thought of during these times.

Today she was tasked with Saitou's favor. Having been unable to think of anything else, Okita had suggested that Saitou just bring Chizuru along with him on his mission. It wasn't a difficult mission, merely investigating a noise disturbance, so Hijikata had agreed to the idea.

"I said it's just a superstition!" Shinpachi was yelling in a raised voice once more. Chizuru's attentions turned back towards their conversation.

"That's what I was thinking," Heisuke said, "but the old auntie at the market swore to me she saw someone out there, with a ghostly pale white face and heard high pitched whines coming from the house."

"The ghost of a girl right?" Okita rubbed his chin, "I have also heard this rumor. At night, when there is no moon, a pale, ghost like girl, with long black hair can be seen at the abandoned house on top of the hill." Chizuru felt goosebumps, unbidden by her, raise on her arms. Okita continued, "It's said she's the spirit of a girl that was killed by a demon and her soul cannot find peace, so she kills any wanderers that cross her path. Before she gets you, you hear a hissing sound, and a clicking noise."

Saitou had come to an abrupt stop, Chizuru almost crashing into him. She peeked around him. The path they had been on had opened up into a clearing, surrounded thickly by trees and other flora. Directly in the middle of the clearing, stood a daunting house, ravaged by time.

Chizuru had a bad feeling about this.

The sky now appeared much darker, Chizuru unconsciously swallowed. "I've heard, on the nights she appears," Heisuke and the others had joined them in the clearing, "you feel a chill, right to your bones," he pretended to shiver.

Chizuru suddenly felt a coldness, from the top of her head to her toes. "Um, Saitou-san," she managed to say. He turned his head slightly, his eyes upon her, "Uh, what exactly was this mission I was going to help you with again?"

"We are investigating the strange rumors about a haunted house on a top of a hill," he said simply. "It had been causing unrest among the people of the town, and the vice-commander ordered that information be found that would disprove the rumors."

"And we came along to help," Okita said, a sly smile on his face as he winked at Chizuru. "Don't worry Chizuru-chan, we won't let anything happen to you, because Hijikata-san will probably have our heads if we do."

Not all her fears chased away by his words, Chizuru nodded. Saitou began to walk slowly towards the shack, the others following behind. Chizuru choked down her eep of nervousness and scrambled after them. She walked closely next to Heisuke, who patted her kindly on the shoulder.

Shinpachi rummaged around in the bag he had been carrying, and withdrew several lengths of wood. He handed one to Okita, and another to Saitou. "Are those for sta-" Chizuru started to say, but stopped herself, embarrassed by the question she was about to ask.

"What was that Chizuru-chan?" Okita grinned, Chizuru had a feeling that he knew what she had been about to ask.

"Never mind," Chizuru said quickly, waving her hands about.

"Chizuru-chan," Okita said, "the rumors are about ghosts, not vampires." Shinpachi held out pieces of flint, and kindling, striking the stones together until they sparked a small flame began to burn. He lit the ends of the wood, and Saitou and Okita held their torches aloft. "So you don't have to worry about needing stakes to stab any vampires."

Shinpachi grinned at Chizuru's silly thought, as did Heisuke. She was saved from further embarrassment by Saitou, who said, "Let's go," and began, ascending the stairs towards the front entrance of the house. He pushed on the wooden doors, and holding his light in front of him, stepped inside.

"Saitou-san," Chizuru chased after him. He stood inside the entrance hall of the house, gazing upwards.

"There's the staircase to the second story," Heisuke pointed to a rickety looking set of stairs running along one of the walls. "I think we should split up, the sooner we're out of here the better. I don't like this place."

"Agreed," said Shinpachi, holding the torch he had taken from Okita.

"Well, Chizuru-chan has to stay with Saitou-san, because this is _his_ _favor_ after all," Okita pointed out. "And I think I'll stay with their group too."

"No fair," Heisuke blurted out, "You're leaving me with old man Shinpat?"

"Like I think it's a good idea that I'm stuck with you," Shinpachi grumbled. "Fine," he crossed his arms, "you better take care of Chizuru though."

"I guess it's fine," Heisuke unsheathed his blade, and started towards the staircase. "We'll investigate upstairs, it seems like it will be more dangerous up there, and I don't want Chizuru falling through the floor."

"You mean ceiling?" Shinpachi ruffled Chizuru's hair and gave her a reassuring smile before he took off after Heisuke.

"No, it would be the floor, because you're walking on that first."

"But when you fall through, you're falling through the _ceiling_ below."

"We'll see you in two hours," Saitou said, to their retreating backs, "Meet back here."

"Be safe," Chizuru called after them. "Please," she said softly, as they turned a corner and disappeared from sight.

The sound of their voices soon faded, as well as the light from their torch. Chizuru felt a fear but clenched her jaw and made a silent vow to herself that she would make sure they made it back in two hours to ensure that they would be able to meet up with Shinpachi and Heisuke.

"Let's begin," Saitou said, leading the way.

The house was only what Chizuru could describe as creepy. There were adornments of spider webs, layers of dust and every time she took a step, the floor would creak beneath her. Three times, not once, not twice, but three times, as they walked by something, it had fallen. A vase, that seemingly fell of its own accord, an eerie painting, that slipped off the wall, even a cupboard in the kitchen.

Chizuru jumped each time, clamping her hands onto Saitou's sleeve. None of these things seemed to scare him one bit. Not even the cupboard, which had caused Okita to whip out his sword.

Each time she grabbed Saitou's sleeve, he would calmly say, "It's just a vase," or, "It was only that painting," but he never reprimanded her for grabbing his arm. Chizuru was beginning to think that nothing scared Saitou.

They had searched nearly six rooms, and Chizuru was certain that it had been almost an hour. Saitou tried to push open a moldy looking door but to no avail. "Let me," Okita said, stepping past Saitou. He kicked the door, square in the middle, sending it flying off its hinges and into the room.

He grinned, "There we-" Okita stopped mid-sentence, his eyes narrowing. With his hand on the hilt of his sword, he quietly entered the room.

"What is it?" Chizuru said in a panicked whisper, "What's wr-" Saitou gently pressed a hand over her mouth. He made a shushing sound and slowly began to follow Okita.

Chizuru followed them into the large room, Okita was ahead of her, taking the torch from Saitou. Then Chizuru heard what had caused them alarm. There was a loud hissing sound coming from somewhere inside the room. "The ghost?" Chizuru squeaked.

A tense moment passed, and Chizuru thought her nerves were about to snap. There was a loud scuffling noise and the torch fell from Okita's hand, continuing to burn on the floor.

"Okita-san," Chizuru struggled to see in the darkness. She couldn't see either of them and the hissing sound only seemed to grow louder. She turned about, hearing a noise behind her. She could see nothing, not even Saitou or Okita.

She knew something was wrong, even before it happened. In the middle of the room, the floor beneath her creaked loudly, and she heard a snap. The hissing sound had stopped and someone yelled her name.

The floor beneath her opened up, and she felt herself falling. She closed her eyes and heard screaming. "Chizuru, Chizuru!"

It took her a moment to realize that she was no longer falling, and that the screaming was from her own mouth. She let her voice die, and looked up. Saitou held her by her wrist, leaning over the edge of the hole. Below her was darkness.

"I have you," he said. "You're safe."

"Saitou-san," Chizuru couldn't get her voice to work. He hoisted her up, out of the hole and onto the floor. She sat beside him, both breathing heavily. They stared at the large hole, Chizuru trying to steady her breaths.

The adrenaline fading, Saitou stood, glancing around for a second before he turned to look back at Chizuru. He offered his hand to her, "Are you hurt?"

"No," she said weakly. Clearing her throat, she forcefully shook her head, and took his hand, "No, I'm fine, Saitou-san, tha-"

"What's going on?" Okita's voice came from somewhere behind them, "Hajime-kun, you sounded scared."

Saitou bent down, picking up the torch and holding it up to illuminate Okita squatting behind them. The light fell upon his figure, who happened to be grinning.

Chizuru took a few steps away from the hole, "Okita-san, sorry, are you ok?"

"Why are you apologizing? Oh wait, let me guess, you forgot about me for a moment right? Well that's ok, because while you and Hajime-kun we're playing around that hole," he held up something in his hand, "I think I caught our _ghost_."

Held tightly, by the scruff of its neck, a raccoon struggled to free himself from Okita's grip. He hissed loudly, baring his little teeth. "I think this guy might have also been the cause of the crashes earlier," Okita stood from his kneeling position. "He's an aggressive little guy."

Saitou sighed, "A raccoon?"

"It was as you thought right?" Okita held the fidgeting raccoon up.

"You knew it might have been a raccoon?" Chizuru said to Saitou.

"I was not sure of anything," Saitou said, "that was just the most logical answer."

"Were you scared at all?" Chizuru asked.

"That was not something to be scared of," he said simply, "Let's go."

VI~VI~VI

The sun was beginning to rise, and Chizuru sat on a bench in courtyard of the Shinsengumi headquarters. "How are you feeling?" Okita popped up beside her.

"Okita-san? I'm fine, just a little tired, but I wanted to see the sunrise."

He sat beside her, interlacing his fingers behind his head, and leaning back against the wall. "So," he said, "I have been in many battles with Hajime-kun, but I've never heard him sound scared before. Just what did you do?"

"Nothing!" Chizuru sat upright, turning to Okita to defend herself. "I didn't do anything, at least not on purpose."

Okita was smiling, "Don't worry, Hajime-kun told me what happened. I didn't think would happen though, the floor boards were all sound when I checked the place out the other day."

Chizuru nervously tapped her fingers together, "Is Saitou-san angry?"

"Angry? No, he was worried about you, and felt bad that you almost got hurt."

"He felt bad? It's my fault, I should go apologize, and I also forgot to thank him-"

"You'll have to wait," Okita said yawning. "He went back to go get Heisuke and Shinpachi-san."

"Heisuke-kun and Nagakura-san? I thought you said they had returned back before us …"

Okita shrugged, "I lied." He grinned, "In fact this whole mission was a big scam. I already went and examined that house days ago, with Hajime-kun. He requested that he be allowed to go back and _investigate _the house once more with Heisuke and Shinpachi-san."

Chizuru felt herself gaping like a goldfish. "Uh, what? You mean you knew all along that there was a raccoon?"

"Well, not exactly, but we knew it was probably some type of animal."

"But the disappearances, and noises and ... that old lady at the market."

"The man that disappeared near the house turned up yesterday, the noises were all from that raccoon and the old lady at the market," Okita grinned, "we told her about our scheme and she was more than willing to help, because between you and me, I think she has her eye on Hajime-kun."

Chizuru still couldn't believe it, "B-but why?"

"You remember that treasure hunt Heisuke schemed up for your last favor?"

"Yes," Chizuru said nodding.

"Well," Okita shrugged one shoulder, "Hajime-kun didn't like that one bit. So, I just so _happened_ to mention this little idea to him, and surprisingly he agreed. There's no ghost, we made up the whole story."

"He did all that to get back at them?"

Okita nodded, picking a long strand of grass from beside the bench and sticking it in his mouth, "Never get on Saitou's bad side."

"But what about Shinpachi-san?" Chizuru's mind was still boggled.

"Shinpachi was the one that suggested that Heisuke put 'a kiss from Hajime-kun' on the list."

"A k-k-kiss? That's what was on the scavenger hunt list?" Chizuru knew her face was probably turning red. Just the thought alone of having to ask, or even seeing someone ask Saitou for a kiss was embarrassing.

"Poor Nagakura-san and Heisuke-kun," Chizuru was glad that she wasn't on Saitou's bad side.

VI~VI~VI

* * *

_A little more dramatic than usual right? Hopefully it was still good though :)_

_Thanks for reading :D_


	7. A Favorite Flower

_Yay another chapter :)_

_I've also put out another Hakuouki story! Check it out (pleeease?) It's AU in a modern world (got the idea from a pic I saw with Heisuke, Okita and Chizuru in modern uniforms)_

_harari24 - I had troubles keeping up with the second season too. It took me forever to watch all the episodes, partly because I just couldn't focus and partly because I knew that the characters were going to be killed off :( I'm glad you like the scary aspect to last chapter :) thanks for reviewing!_

_Thank you to everyone who left me a review :)_

_XxXWolvesInTheNightXxX, Tomatosoup inc., desirae668, Yester, MsanimeFan10, Starian NightZz, Su 'Pioggia' Oxenstierna, WinglessDreams, redfox-akatsuki, Nikooru-sama, JingleBells18, Raine Haruto, abiecula, ZkKtTysoul, thebestest11, KagomeAngel91, Rinhail, moshimellow, Kavery12, Sailor Panda, Fallen Angel Mitsu_

_**Disclaimer**: I do not in anyway own Hakuouki (2/4/2011)_

_* Warning, mushiness ahead_

* * *

VII~VII~VII

Chizuru made he way towards the well, going to return the bucket she had used to haul the water. From a distance, she could see someone was already up, standing out in the courtyard, watching the sunrise.

"Saitou-san," she said, as she got closer.

It was of no shock to Chizuru that Saitou did not appear the slightest bit surprised to see her. "Yukimura," he nodded his head in a simple greeting.

"Uh Saitou-san," Chizuru said, "I didn't give you a proper thank you yesterday for saving me." She bowed her head. "Thank you very much."

He glanced at her, his dark blue eyes as devoid of emotion as always. He continued to look at her, causing Chizuru to blush. "Uh Saitou-san …"

He gave her a slight smile, finally looking away. "You're welcome," he said, amusement in his tone. "You were the one that ended up doing me the favor."

"Me?" Chizuru pondered his statement. Just how did she help Saitou? "Uh, Saitou-san, could it have been that you really thought the house was haunted … and you were afraid?"

Saitou noted the dead-serious look she had on her face. He almost laughed ... almost.

He didn't feel like telling her that he, like the rest of the Shinsengumi men enjoyed spending time with her. Saitou too was someone that enjoyed her company from time to time. Having someone like her around, who was much more calming and kind-hearted than the rest of the Shinsengumi, was nice for him.

"Yes," he said simply, "that was it."

She did look surprised, "I'm glad I was able to assist you then." She solemnly met his gaze. "Let me know if you ever need me again."

"I will remember your offer, but I believe that there is someone else that requires you by his side even more than me."

"Someone else? Who?"

Hijikata, who had been intently watching the pair for a while finally called out to them, "What are you two doing?"

Chizuru turned, "Oh, Hijikata-san, good morning."

Saitou could practically see her face light up. "Were you looking for us lieutenant?"

He was still looking at Chizuru as he answered the question, "Nagakura was looking for everyone. We need to have a short meeting this morning."

VII~VII~VIII

The cup of chopsticks rattled about in Shinpachi's hands, drawing the attentions of the surrounding group. "Ok Chizuru-chan, task number six, coming up."

Chizuru sighed, she was going to break that cup one day …

The tasks were getting done slowly but surely. She was more than halfway done.

"Hey, hey," Harada place a hand atop Chizuru's head, giving it a slight shake. "What's with that loud sigh? Do you grow tired of these favors already?"

"Oh no, not at all," Chizuru waved her hands about, "It just seems … like there's a lot left."

"Well, don't be sad, the fun people are all that's left," Harada grinned. "There's me, Yamazaki-san, and Souji."

"And Hijikata-san," Chizuru said softly.

Harada eyed her, watching as she sheepishly tapped the ends of her fingers together, gazing at the Shinsengumi vice captain as he reprimanded Heisuke for something. "Yes, Hijikata-san too," Harada used his hand atop of Chizuru's head to steer her towards Shinpachi and the rest of the group.

Okita strolled slowly towards the group. He reached out an arm, wrapping it about Heisuke's shoulders and leaned heavily against him, "Anyone seen Yamazaki-san?"

"Yamazaki?" Hijikata looked to Saitou.

Saitou shook his head, "Yamazaki-kun is still undercover. The last I heard from him, the operation was still going smoothly."

"Very well," Nagakura smiled, "We just go on without him."

"Don't we always?" Heisuke chimed.

"So, four left, but there's only three of us present today," Okita pointed each person out. "I hope luck is on my side today," he winked at Chizuru, "Right Chizuru-chan?"

"Uh-"

"We'll just see who wins today," Harada said loudly to Okita.

"That sounds like a challenge."

"Will the both of you just shut up?" Hijikata snapped. He snatched a chopstick from the cup, indicating that the others should follow his lead. Okita and Harada each took a stick from the cup.

Okita chuckled, taking the last chopstick, "What's wrong vice-commander? You want to have a whole day with Chizuru-chan all to yourself too, right?"

"So, who wins today?" Nagakura was busy trying to look at everyone's chopstick at once.

"Out again today," Okita shrugged.

"Actually, the black tipped one," Harada held up the stick, "Is right here."

The only sound was the wind as the group stared at Harada then slowly let their eyes shift in Chizuru's direction, then towards Hijikata.

"Harada got it," Heisuke said, half as a statement and half as a question.

"I think we can all see that," Hijikata said, throwing his own chopstick onto the ground. "Now that this is done, I need to return to work. It would be wise of the rest of you to do the same."

"Hijikata-san," Chizuru said, but the dark haired man was already walking away.

"Don't worry Chizuru," Harada patted her on the head, "Hijikata-san has just been under a lot of stress lately with Kondou-san being gone for so long."

"Kondou-san is gone still?"

"Yes, problems in the east."

"Now's not the time to be worrying about that Chi-zu-ru!" Heisuke put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. "You have to look out for Sano-san," he said in a loud whisper. "He's best friends with Shinpachi-san and both of them are weird, old geezers."

"Hey, hey, hey there you little punk," Nagakura leaned close to Heisuke, his eyes narrowed. "What nonsense our you telling our little Chizuru?"

"Nothing that isn't true!"

"Come on Chizuru," Harada motioned her over. "Let those two be."

"Oh, ok," Chizuru waved goodbye, although Nagakura and Heisuke didn't even seem to notice. Okita followed after her, his fingers interlaced behind his head as he leisurely strolled along.

"So, Sano-san," Okita had caught up with Harada, "Just what are your plans for today? Have anything fun in mind?"

Chizuru had a feeling that Harada's and Okita's definitions of fun were vastly different.

She silently prayed that they were going with Harada's definition of fun.

"I'm going to go somewhere with Chizuru," he smiled.

"Where? Somewhere secret?" Okita smirked, "Should I go and tell the vice-commander on you? You know he is part demon?"

"I am going to take her to the walled-off garden on the other side of town."

"Garden?" Chizuru had no idea what he was talking about.

"Oh, the garden?" Okita apparently knew. "How are you going to get in though? The family that owns it is rather concerned with their privacy. The have a small personal guard that keeps people off their property."

Chizuru blanched, "Are we sneaking in?"

"Oh that sound like a good idea Chizuru-chan," Okita nodded, "I'll give you a boost over the wall."

"N-n-no, that's ok."

"Don't scare her Souji," Harada said. "I got permission from the family to go into the garden. They owe me a favor for catching the thief that broke into their manor."

"Sano-san," Okita sighed, "you shouldn't have told her, it probably would've been more fun if you had snuck in. Creates an air of suspense."

"Do you really think we need any more suspense in our life?"

VII~VII~VII

Chizuru followed Harada out of the Shinsegumi's gates and down the main street through the town. He walked beside her, listening to her story of what had actually happened during Heisuke's favor. The town was already full of people, going about their daily activities. Chizuru hadn't had much time to explore around Kyoto since she had arrived and whenever she did go out, it was with a patrol squad on a predetermined route through town.

Harada stopped outside the entrance in a tall stonewall. He knocked on the wooden doors. "This is it," he grinned at Chizuru. "The garden is fenced off from the rest of the house. The family lives in the manor behind it." Chizuru was sure she had never been anywhere near this house, she hadn't even known it existed. The door opened slowly and a samurai clad in armor poked his head out. Harada exchanged a few brief sentences with him, before the door was opened the rest of the way and the guard bowed them in.

"Come along Chizuru," Harada placed a hand on her back, guiding her gently. "You have nothing to fear, we are allowed to be in here."

Chizuru gazed about the garden, already in awe without having taken more than five steps. The path they were on was cobblestone, and appeared to twist and turn throughout the garden. The spectrum of colors she saw was beyond what she was able to describe. There were tall trees, bright with new leaves, surrounded by flowers and near the opposite wall, she could see a small pond.

Japanese Chrysanthemums bloomed around the bases of the trees. Patches of lilies were scattered at varying intervals throughout the yard, their colors varying from pink to yellow to white. The Japanese maple's color was beginning to turn its unique red color that could be matched by no other.

"After you," Harada said with a grin, pleased with her reaction.

"I can really go?"

"Yes, we actually do have permission." He offered his hand to her. She could only stare for a moment, blushing as Harada finally reached out and took her hand into his own. He began to lead her further into the garden smiling at the red of Chizuru's face.

Amongst the flowers, small white butterflies fluttered from blossom to blossom, their forms standing out from the green background. The tall sakura trees had yet to fully bloom, their buds still growing and green, only starting to turn pink. The splashes of color here and there changed as they continued further into the garden, and the variety of the flowers seemed to grow.

"So, how as your trip with Saitou?" Harada asked.

"Well," Chizuru wasn't exactly sure how she would put it. "It didn't turn out like I thought."

"Hmm, well it's a good thing Saitou caught you in time."

Chizuru flushed a darker shade of red. So, it would seem that everyone knew about her little falling through the floor thing then. "The vice-commander was so mad," Harada said, "he looked ready to go out and force the raccoon to commit seppuku."

Chizuru laughed, picturing Hijikata together with a raccoon under any circumstance was funny. The pathway branched and Harada guided Chizuru underneath a lattice covered by purple flowers.

He came to a stop, reaching out to pluck one of the bloomed flowers from its vine. Noticing Chizuru's surprised expression he said, "You don't have to worry, it is almost the time for their flower cutting. They won't if we take some flowers."

He reached up carefully and placed the flower behind her ear. "A flower for the flower of the Shinsengumi." He winked at her, "don't let anyone see you looking so pretty or else they will try and steal you away from us."

Chizuru was sure that her face had been beet red for the rest of the trip.

VII~VII~VII

Chizuru sat on the edge of the wooden walkway, near her room. Dusk was settling in, and darkness began to permeate the once light blue sky. Some of the men were still busy with their training, working to master skills as swordsmen. Long shadows were cast in the courtyard of the Shinsengumi's headquarters and lights from flickering candles could be seen in a few rooms.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Chizuru turned. Hijikata and Okita were walking towards Chizuru, deeply discussing something. Okita said something causing Hijikata to frown and shake his head. The first squad commander laughed, clapping a hand on Hijikata's shoulder.

Okita glanced up, meeting Chizuru's gaze. He gave her his usual mischievous grin. He pointed Hijikata in her direction, "Well, I need to go and find Sano-san," he said to Hijikata, "I take my leave vice-commander."

He waved to Chizuru before turning about and returning in the direction he had come from. It was just the two of them now, he and Hijikata. He was gazing at her keenly, no readable emotion on his face. Chizuru jumped to her feet, bowing her head to him. The flower slipped from behind her ear, and fell to the ground. She had forgotten that she was still wearing it.

She made to reach for it, but Hijikata was already bending down, gently clasping the flower between his long fingers.

"Uh," Chizuru felt her face warming. "Sorry."

"A purple clematis," Hijikata said.

"A … what?"

He closed the small distance between them. With gentle movements, he tucked Chizuru's hair behind her ear, "This flower," he said, slipping the flower back into place," it's called a clematis." He looked at the purple blossom then to Chizuru, meeting her eyes.

"Oh," she felt breathless. The palm of his hand hovered near her cheek, not quite close enough to touch.

The violet of his eyes was darker than usual, the pre-night lighting coloring the shade to deep purple. His gaze was steady, unmoving. Chizuru felt his stare almost too strong to meet, but she found herself unable to look away.

He lowered his hand, "It suits you," he said, before continuing on down the walkway. Chizuru gazed after him, her head still immersed in the sensations caused by Hijikata.

She reached up, her fingertips brushing the petal of the flower. "A purple clematis," she said softly to herself. "It's my favorite color."

VII~VII~VII

* * *

_Hopefully it wasn't overly corny :) I like to think of Harada as the "charming gentleman" type._

_Questions and/or comments?_


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